3.19.2004
A Downpour in the Desert
Recently, my wife bought a newer car and I “inherited” her 1995 Honda Accord (this is a good thing, since the red ‘90 Honda Civic I had been driving was small, and slowly dying, and the newer car is blue, my favorite color). One of the things I got with the car was a new set of wiper blades. I have never quite understood why car manufacturers make their windshield wipers so complex that it takes a rocket scientist and a roomful of engineers to get them attached. I managed to snap the end off the driver’s side blade. I didn’t think much of it at the time, after all, this is Vegas, and it hardly ever rains in Vegas!
Of course this does not mean it never rains in Vegas. Case in point. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had rainy days about a third of the time. The tip of my wiper blade fell off at some point, so half of my wiper blade was working fine, the other half sort of “slithered” across my windshield, leaving the area I generally use to see covered in water.
I tried to endure it, rationalizing to myself: “The rainy season will be gone soon.” Of course, last night about 10:00 PM, it started raining steady. When I got up at 5:00 AM, it was still raining. Going to work with a sloshy windshield was more than I could bear.
The only place open at 5:30 AM in my neighborhood is Wal-Mart, so reluctantly, I made the trek. The store is in the middle of being converted from a retail store into a Super-Center, so there was all sorts of interesting things going on, but I made my way back to where the wipers were, quickly determined the right size, and made my purchase. So desperate was I, that I probably bought the most expensive single wiper blade in the entire store.
It’s still dark out, it’s still raining, but at least I parked under a pole light. I begin the arduous process of trying to figure out how to connect this wiper blade in the rain. After about 10 minutes of no-go, the pole light above me goes out. I whip out my trusty Mini-Magä flashlight and continue my struggles. I’ve got the hieroglyphics that pass for instructions more-or-less pasted to my hood by the rain.
Finally, I manage to attach the blade. After a total of 30 minutes, I have my triumph over adversity, my wipers gracefully whisks the water off the entire viewing area of my windshield once more. I am elated, I am wet, I must now battle the hoards of cars on the wet streets of Vegas, but at least I can see.
© 2004, J.S. Brown
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Of course this does not mean it never rains in Vegas. Case in point. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had rainy days about a third of the time. The tip of my wiper blade fell off at some point, so half of my wiper blade was working fine, the other half sort of “slithered” across my windshield, leaving the area I generally use to see covered in water.
I tried to endure it, rationalizing to myself: “The rainy season will be gone soon.” Of course, last night about 10:00 PM, it started raining steady. When I got up at 5:00 AM, it was still raining. Going to work with a sloshy windshield was more than I could bear.
The only place open at 5:30 AM in my neighborhood is Wal-Mart, so reluctantly, I made the trek. The store is in the middle of being converted from a retail store into a Super-Center, so there was all sorts of interesting things going on, but I made my way back to where the wipers were, quickly determined the right size, and made my purchase. So desperate was I, that I probably bought the most expensive single wiper blade in the entire store.
It’s still dark out, it’s still raining, but at least I parked under a pole light. I begin the arduous process of trying to figure out how to connect this wiper blade in the rain. After about 10 minutes of no-go, the pole light above me goes out. I whip out my trusty Mini-Magä flashlight and continue my struggles. I’ve got the hieroglyphics that pass for instructions more-or-less pasted to my hood by the rain.
Finally, I manage to attach the blade. After a total of 30 minutes, I have my triumph over adversity, my wipers gracefully whisks the water off the entire viewing area of my windshield once more. I am elated, I am wet, I must now battle the hoards of cars on the wet streets of Vegas, but at least I can see.
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S. Brown
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